The excitement was high. My first long-distance flight ever. Visiting Asia for the first time. And lucky me has a local travel companion. How grateful I was for that.
Bangkok, Thailand
We arrived in Bangkok. As we didn’t note before we landed. There was rainy season. The humidity level there was crazy. I never experienced anything like that before. It’s like in an indoor swimming pool, but outside. So we were looking forward to 5 days of rain, rain and rain. For me, this wasn’t an issue once more since I was able to work. So we booked a good hotel with a decent internet connection. A great breakfast, work during the day and food in the city in the evening. That was the plan for the week. Not too exciting actually. One day the weather didn’t seem to be too bad, we headed out on foot and explored certain parts of the city. There wasn’t a lot of traffic and people out. I was surprised since everyone tells me Bangkok is super crowded.
Bandung, Indonesia
We continued our extended layover in Bangkok to Jakarta and then via train to Bandung, a city not too far from the biggest city of Indonesia. Luckily in Indonesia, the climate was completely different because it’s on the other side of the equator. Dry and sunny weather.
In Bandung, my friend, which grew up in Indonesia, felt at home and wanted me to join streetfood. I was very sceptical since I’m western and not used to the bacteria in those countries. So we found a place which looked decent. There we tried some chicken and I needed to eat it with my fingers. That was an experience. I wouldn’t have imagined how incapable I could be trying to do finger food. My friend had real fun with me. Not only that because of that, but also because everyone was staring at me since I’m white (“Bule”).
The next day we got to explore a little bit of the city with fellow Couchsurfer. The city to me is pretty ugly and dirty, typical Asian I guess. But we also got into some hidden foodcourts which were pretty nice.
Batukaras, Indonesia
After a couple of workdays in Bandung, my real holidays were starting. We booked a bus and took a ride all the way to the south coast. To a place, my cousin suggested me before we left Switzerland. Someone from Europe can’t imagine how long a 100-kilometre long ride can take by bus on these bad roads. Besides the time, it was also really uncomfortable. The trip took us in the end about 8 hours. You can do the math. I would have been faster with a bicycle without a motor.
We finally arrived at a tiny village with a beautiful beach. Not a lot of tourists are there since it’s very remote. Exactly what we were looking for. A couple of white people surfing there and that’s it.
We enjoyed the beach and the small restaurants there. On one occasion we went to the Green Canyon and did a rafting tour with a guide there. This was a nice experience. Floating down a small stream in the middle of the jungle with a life vest on.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
We continued our journey towards the east of Java, one of the biggest island in Indonesia. There we met a local friend we know from Germany. She showed us around her home city and afterwards, we went for ice with her brother. A truly native experience since all of my friends could speak the language and they mostly know the places very well.
A little more in the north of Yogyakarta is a famous temple called Borobudur. It’s the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world. So we went there the next day. We also got a great tip by a local for a hidden viewpoint. We rented a motorbike and drove up the mountain very early in the morning to catch the sunrise, sadly there was heavy fog. Nevertheless, it was still a nice experience. Actually one of the best. We drove so far into the countryside. No one was around, just some old locals in their small houses up in the mountains. We meet a very old man my friend was talking with.
Lombok, Indonesia
We finished exploring Java. So we took a plane to Lombok, an island closeby. There we got ourselves a couple of days of rest from backpacking. We enjoyed the time in a resort. Our own bungalow with balcony and private pool in the middle with the restaurant at the end of it. It was almost empty which made the stay even more pleasant.
On an evening we went out into the city (Mataram) to meet Couchsurfer for dinner. It ended up with a small gathering of 6 people.
At the end of our stay, we figured out that we actually haven’t explored a lot of the island itself which was a pity. The volcano, the islands and beaches. Personally, I think Lombok is one of the nicest islands. It’s not super touristy, the Indonesian mentality is still very present and it’s pretty religious. On the last day we decided to get a private driver which took us on a tour to the south of the island. There are a lot of very pretty and empty beaches. Pantai Mawi was one of these. I particularly liked the name because it’s the abbreviation of my own name — Marc Wieland. We continued to some other beaches and ended up at Merese Hills, a small peak to watch the sunset.
Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia
We left Lombok by speedboat off to Nusa Penida and then Nusa Lembongan. Our destination is a small island which belongs to Bali. By bike, you can circumnavigate the island in around 1 hour, which we did and found some nice spots to make some breaks. In the middle of the island, there’s the “Yellow Bridge”, which connects another small island. It’s quite an experience to go through bridges like that by bike as non-Asian 😉
On the island, there are some pointed cliffs, which are very nice to watch during sunrise and sunset. The waves were hitting the rocks and splash over them. Pretty romantic. “Devil’s Tear” is one of these places.
Bali, Indonesia
Finally, we ended up in the most touristy island in the country. We always wanted to avoid this place but in the end, we still ended up in Bali. But we stayed away from the big crowd and went up more north to Ubud. In the middle of the famous ricefields, we found a place to stay.
Closeby our accommodation there are a couple of places to visit by bike. Such as Tegenungan waterfall, monkey forest or the famous Tegallalang Rice Terrace. We were really disappointed when we went into this place since it was just too crowded. So we headed out to find some more authentic rice fields and ended up at a small restaurant (Warung), which made my day and had a beautiful view into a small ricefield. The owner was pretty funny and told us about different things.
My 2 weeks of holiday came to an end and we haven’t come as far as I wished we could have been. I wanted to end my holiday back on Java in Surabaya. Sadly we didn’t make it all the way there and I needed to skip those place and also the vulcanos. Noted for the next time.
My friend took a flight to Surabaya the other day to visit her parents and I booked a place in a guest house and went back to work in a co-working space in the hipster town of Bali (Canggu). To be honest I really enjoyed my time there. To work it’s really nice. The infrastructure is pretty nice and everything is in western standards. Also the food and prices 😉 Not authentic at all, but for work it’s great. I lived my life like in the movie. Working by the pool with fancy drinks next to me — that’s work.
I met a guy via Couchsurfing which toured me around the island with his red motorbike (I call him Valentino Rossi). We went to the most southern part of Bali, to Uluwatu. He also showed me that you can have a meal with drinks for 1 euro, which amazed me. Since we’re in Bali. But you need to follow the locals, right.
In one day I wanted to give surfing a try. So I got me a surf instructor and a surfboard. The conditions were pretty okay for a beginner like me and I was able to learn it pretty fast. I probably had some advantages since I’m able to windsurf and snowboard.
With Ash, eg. Valentino Rossi, I also meet to have dinner and experience the nightlife in Bali. It’s was fun and we built a friendship during that week. I’m really look back to times like that.
Jakarta, Indonesia
Capsule hotels are a thing also in Europe. But I never slept in one. That changed in Jakarta. My first capsule hotel experience there.
Back in the big city, I started to meet a couple of Couchsurfer since it’s very easy to find people to hang out and tour the city as a western. I also went to one of the few, but famous sightseeings in Jakarta called Monas (National Monument). In Jakarta, my friend joined me again after she stayed for a week with her family.
Singapore, Singapore
Our trip almost came to an end. We had booked a super cheap flight a couple of months back with long layovers. This was very intentional since we wanted to explore more cities. On the way to Indonesia, we had a 4 days long stop in Bangkok and on the way back we stopped in Singapore for 5 days. Arrived there we figured out pretty fast the differences to what we have been used to. A lot more business-oriented and wealthy.
Starting now I was back to work after my two weeks of holiday. So internet connection and a good place to work was important for me. My friend also wanted to experience an infinite pool. So we decided to get ourselves a very nice apartment in downtown of Singapore for that week.
I was able to focus very well on my work while my friend did some excursions by herself during the day. In the evening we headed out into the city to explore and eat. I also knew a friend which I met in Austria a year back. So we met at Clarke Quay, a pretty nice spot next to the river to have something to drink and talk.
That was all about Singapore. A pretty decent week with a lot of progress at work and also a good work/life balance. So we headed to the famous Singapore Changi airport to see this spectacular indoor waterfall. In the so-called “Jewel”, the newest building at the airport, there’s an indoor forest with the tallest indoor waterfall in the world, a huge shopping centre and free cinema. It’s really fascinating and only cost 1.3 billion USD. We had a burger at the upper level and enjoyed our last minutes in Asia before we fly back to Zurich.
